The most inside of Pennsylvania Republicans threw their support to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign this afternoon, raising serious questions on how Romney will sell himself as an outsider to Pennsylvania primary voters.

Former state Republican Chairman Alan Novak, GOP moneyman Bob Asher of Montgomey County; current Allegheny County Republican Chairman James R. Roddey, former U.S. Rep. Phil English and current U.S. Reps. Jim Gerlach, Charlie Dent and Bill Shuster gathered in the state Capitol to announce or reaffirm their supportive for the putative party frontrunner.

"We need someone with the confidence and experience and business sense, someone who can beat Barack Obama," Novak, now a political consultant in Harrisburg said. "We have that person in Mitt Romney."

The fund-raising portion of Romney's Pennsylvania campaign is set to kick off May 1 in Allentown, Asher said. Two events are scheduled for Philadelphia that evening.

"The goal is $1 million and we're going to reach it," Asher said.

The senior Republicans, especially Novak and Asher, were instrumental in former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's rise to power in the state. They said they saw nothing incongruous about abandoning Santorum, now seeking the GOP nomination, in favor of Romney.

"This is not a negative about anyone," Novak said."It's about who's the best candidate to win the presidency."

State Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, who's helping to coordinate the Santorum campaign in Pennsylvania, said he believed Santorum would stay competitive regardless of the results of tonight's GOP primaries in Alabama and Mississippi tonight. Hawaii Republicans also hold their primary tonight.

Markedly absent was Gov. Tom Corbett, who's keeping his pick mum -- and may do so until the primary. Novak and the other GOP leaders shrugged it off.

Providing the Democratic response, state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, accused Romney of not having a core set of beliefs and predicted he would "tack back to the center" if he wins the GOP nomination.

"The only thing he believes in is making Mitt Romney president," Leach said.